NORD ELECTRO 2 V2.0x
9. History: The story behind the Electro 2 instruments
Page 51
On the left-hand side of both manuals, Hammond tone wheel organs
have one octave of reverse-colored keys. These don't trigger notes; instead,
they call up preset drawbar settings. All tone wheel Hammonds have
double manuals.
What you see here isn't an original component on a Hammond organ;
it's an add-on. It's the controller switch for the Leslie rotating speaker
cabinet. Slow rotation speed is called Chorale, and fast speed is called
Tremolo. In the Nord Electro 2, the Leslie speaker effect is simulated
with this kind of controller. Its positions are called Fast and Slow.
This is the inside of the famous Vibrato
and Chorus scanner. It was designed by
John Hanert, Hammond's #1 engineer.
Hanert was the designer of many pat-
ented components in Hammond tone
wheel organs. The scanner was attached
to the drive shaft that all of the tone
wheels were fit upon, just behind the
main motor.
A close-up view of the main 60Hz
motor. The vibrato scanner is
mounted on the left side.
This is the inside of the drawbars.
Underneath, you can vaguely see
some of the coils for the magnetic
pick-ups.
A close-up picture of the speaker tube
amplifiers.
The main motor
The start motor
The drawbars
The spring reverb
The vibrato/
chorus scanner
The speakers
The tube amplifier
for the organ
The tone wheel
assembly box
The tube amplifier
for the speakers
The matching transformer
